Features

Childcare Counsel - post-termination restrictions

Our resident employment lawyer Caroline Robins, principal associate at Eversheds, answers a question about restrictions placed on someone leaving a job

I’m a manager and thinking about leaving my job with a nursery chain. However, my contract states that, on leaving my post, I can’t work or even ‘engage in any business’ which is in competition with my current job within a five-mile radius of the company premises. If I take the ban literally, this means I can’t work within a 200 square mile area, as my current organisation owns several settings. I would have to relocate to get another job. Is this legal? What can I do?

It is lawful for a nursery to protect its legitimate business interests through the use of post-termination restrictions in contracts. This would include clauses to protect against, for example, use of the nursery’s confidential information or poaching of customers and staff.

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